


Could You Just Pretend?

by bettycooperthefirst



Series: Could You Just Pretend? [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-07 19:13:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14087763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettycooperthefirst/pseuds/bettycooperthefirst
Summary: When the cute girl at Jughead's local coffee shop asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend for an afternoon, how can he say no? But then it turns into a weekend of faking it at her sisters wedding, and Jughead sees how amazing Betty Cooper is. He's putting on the show of a lifetime, but how long can it last when he realizes doesn't want to pretend anymore?





	1. The Proposal

The coffee shop was bustling even at 3 in the afternoon on a Tuesday and Jughead could smell the coffee and the signature carrot cake muffins as he waited in line. The girl working the register was the same as usual, blonde ponytail and kind eyes and name tag that read “Betty.” She knew his order because he was there almost every day around this time.

“Dark roast with whole milk?” She offered him a smile but he could tell she was tired or frustrated or both. It must have been a long day at work.  
“You know me so well,” he joked, hoping to make her smile. He only half succeeded. 

He went to sit in his usual spot by the window and thought through the rest of his day. He’d been working all morning, from a family photo shoot in the park to an engagement shoot in a barn, ending in a mayoral campaign shoot in an office building. It had been a long morning, but now his afternoon was free: hence his third coffee of the day to get him through to the night.

“Here you go.” He looked up to see Betty with his coffee.  
He took it and thanked her.

“No problem,” she said and turned to walk away. But she paused after only one step and turned back to him. “Actually, no, I have a really weird favor to ask you.” She paused again, and he was caught off guard and didn’t know what to say, so he just waited for her to continue.  
“I know you don’t know me that well other than me making you a coffee every day and I don’t really know you but you always put a tip in the jar and you make jokes and try to make me smile so I think you’re probably a nice guy.”

“Okay…”

She took a deep breath. “I get off work in 10 minutes and I have to go down the street to meet my family. My sister Polly is getting married this weekend and my family and her fiancees family are meeting up one last time beforehand. Polly and Jason have been together for years and as soon as he proposed my mom went into crazy mode and started nagging me to find a boyfriend and Jason sister Cheryl has been making all these snarky comments about how I’m the only single one left in the family. After they got engaged, my mom said I had better be well on my way to the same thing and Cheryl made this comment that I probably wouldn’t even go on a date by the time Polly got married. It’s been six months. I haven’t had a single date.”

“Betty…” Jughead was curious about where this was headed. “What are you asking me?”

“Could you pretend to be my boyfriend for a couple of hours? It’ll be painless, I swear, I just can’t take it with Cheryl anymore, she sent me this provoking text about it an hour ago and I lost it and told her I was seeing someone but I’m obviously not and her mom has been judging me too, she has this holier than thou attitude-“

“Betty. Of course I’ll help. Its about time I repay you for the amazing coffee.”

The blonde smiled. “Okay. Wow. Thank you. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

Spending two hours hanging out with a pretty girl who was always nice to him and pretending to be her boyfriend? Even though it was completely fake, Jughead couldn’t think of anything better he could possibly be doing.  
Jughead’s phone vibrated in his pocket. Group message.

__  
Fangs: Jug. I found this nice girl that Kev knows. I wanna set you guys up  
Betty wasn’t the only one being judged for her singleness. Fangs had been trying to set up Jughead relentlessly ever since he fell in love with his fiance Kevin and now that they were two weeks away from getting married, he had amped up his previous level 10 of determination to a level 20.  
Sweet Pea: Fangs you’ve failed the last three times you set him up. Remember vegetable girl?  
Fangs: Shut up this is different  
Jughead: They all seem different until they want to talk about corn and asparagus for an hour  
Fangs: She’s really sweet, Kevin's known her forever  
Jughead: I have a date today anyway. Kind of.  
Sweet Pea: How do you “kind of” have a date?  


“Ready to go?” Jughead looked up to see Betty standing in front of him again. No more barista apron, just a nice pale blue sweater and jeans.  
“Yes. Let’s do this.”

\- - -

“So, how did the two of you meet?” Cheryl was just as scary had Betty had said, Jughead was quickly realizing. They’d sat down at the table and been bombarded with questions, only to be redirected by Jason and Polly to last minute wedding matters. But with that handled, Cheryl had managed to circle back to Jughead and Betty and she was clearly looking to prove something.

“The coffee shop.” Jughead said simply. 

Cheryl clearly wasn’t satisfied. “Suuuuure.” Wow, she was dramatic. There was a nasty twinkle in her eye.

Betty looked lost, she was clearly nervous that this would blow up in her face and uncomfortable that she had asked Jughead to do this.  
“I just got up the guts one day and decided to stop being a chicken shit and ask her to go out sometime. I still don’t know why she said yes.” He casually put his arm around the back of Betty's chair and squeezed her shoulder. He was trying to make it look normal but he didn’t know if it was landing. At the very least, it seemed to make Betty feel less uncomfortable because she launched in with details of her own- they went to Pop’s Diner for their first date, he was a gentleman, they both got milkshakes and hit it off easily.

“And here we are. The meet the family dinner.” Jughead laughed. “I guess she liked me for some reason.” 

“Right.” Cheryl rolled her eyes. 

“So, Jughead.” Alice was looking at him now. “I assume you’re coming to the wedding this weekend?”

“Actually, Jughead has to work this weekend- a big photoshoot for a different wedding.” Betty lied.

Cheryl put on a sugary sweet smile. “I’m sure.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “And he couldn’t possibly pass the job off to someone else?”

This girl was relentless. Jughead felt Betty’s back stiffen next to him and he felt a sudden anger wash over him.

“He’s very busy.” Betty managed to keep a chipper tone. “It’s a very important client.”

Cheryl leaned forward. “What client could possibly be more important than accompanying your new beau to her sisters wedding?”

“None, actually.” Jughead said the words before he could stop himself.

Betty’s head whipped in his direction. “What?”

Jughead kept his eyes trained on the redhead across the table. “I cancelled the shoot. I was going to surprise you on Thursday, but Cheryl made me realize that I couldn’t wait.” He turned and locked eyes with Betty. “I want to be there for you.” He hoped she could tell that he meant it.

“So you’ll be there?” Alice asked again.

Betty looked over at Cheryl, who was, for once, caught off guard, and back at Jughead.  
There was a look of question in her eyes.

“If you’ll have me.” He said again, looking at the blonde, sending a question of his own back to her.

Betty turned and looked Cheryl in the eyes and said in the most sugary voice Jughead had ever heard “He’ll be there.”


	2. She's All That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty and Jughead make their way to the Blossom mansion and get to know a little bit more about each other on the way.

“So whats your story? If I’m going to pretend to be your boyfriend all weekend I should probably know a thing or two about you.”

Betty put her feet up on the dashboard and rolled her eyes. “I don’t really know where to start, I’m not very interesting.” 

“Okay, well, all I know about you right now is that you make a banging latte and your family is bat shit crazy. So any other details would be helpful.”

Betty laughed and pulled on the sleeve of her baby blue sweater.  
“Okay. Well. For starters, I don’t want to work in a coffee shop. Shocker, I know.”

“I never would have guessed.” Jughead feigned surprise and she laughed again. It really was the nicest laugh Jughead had ever heard, if he was being completely honest with himself. “So what is it that you really want to be doing?”

“It’s stupid. You’re going to laugh.”

“I won’t.”

She gave him a pointed look.

“Pinky promise.” He offered her his pinky and she looked surprised. He couldn’t tell why. But she took his pinky in hers and said “Okay, you promised.”

“I promised.”

“I want to be a florist. Just own my own flower shop and arrange flowers all day.”

“That’s not stupid at all.”

She gave him a look again.

“Seriously. It sounds nice, calming even.”

She brushed this off and changed the focus to him.  
“So you’re a photographer. How do you swing that?”

“I actually get paid to take pictures of people and landscapes and things and I sometimes do editing for magazines and ads too.” Jughead wasn’t used to talking about himself, but somehow it felt easy with her.

“Do you love it?”“I do actually.”

“Lucky.”  
It was silent for a moment and he expected her to change the subject again, but instead she just looked out the window and spoke in a quiet voice.  
“I have this picture of myself surrounded by all these flowers. Arrangements that I’ve made, filling up this little shop. Sunlight streaming in from the window, a couple of stray stem cuttings on the floor. And it just feels like if I could take a snapshot of happiness, that’s what it would be. The smell of flowers and the feeling of sun on my arms and people paying me to arrange flowers for their weddings and their birthdays and their valentines days.” Betty sighed. “But instead, I’m 23 and I have this degree in communications from some fancy school that my mom chose for me that I don’t know what to do with and I work in a coffee shop. Do you want to know the saddest part?”

“If you want to tell me.”

“Our back alley runs up on the back alley of the street over and theres this old space that no ones using and the interior is brick and theres these huge windows, it’s perfect. And sometimes when I get stressed at work I go in the back alley and just sit in front of it and pretend that I’m sitting in front of my own flower shop.”

“I don’t think that’s sad. I think it’s beautiful. You might be pretending now, but you’ll get there someday.”

She looked at him and he felt like she was seeing something that he couldn’t. He cleared his throat.   
“So, anyone else going to be at the wedding that I should know about?”

She groaned and he could feel the vibe in the car change completely. 

“My ex. Archie. We were friends since we were little and a couple of years ago we started dating and it was really nice for awhile until the whole thing just imploded.”

His heart dropped in his chest. Great. An ex. "Is there still anything...there?"

“I don’t know. I mean, we knew each other for so long but then suddenly it was like we didn’t know each other at all. He broke my heart. And of course, since our families grew up together, he’s going to be there this weekend and we haven’t talked in a whole year at this point so its just an awkward moment waiting to happen.”

“Well, good thing you have a handsome new boyfriend to make him jealous.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe a little bit of jealousy wouldn’t be the worst thing.”

“We’ll show him what he’s missing. He’ll regret the day he broke your heart.”

Looking at her, having opened up to him so honestly, her blonde hair, stray strands blowing in the wind, her green eyes glinting in the sunlight, Jughead thought he might regret the day he said he could handle this without getting his own heart broken.

\- - -

“Alright, we’re almost there. Rapid fire review time.”

“Your mom’s name is Alice and she is obsessed with the newspaper she runs, which your dad Hal also works for but he’s a prick and we don’t really need to worry about impressing him. Cheryl is the one to look out for, she has a taste for blood and she wants to prove that we’re liars, which we are,” Jughead added, and Betty gave him a look “but we don’t want her to know that. Veronica is your best friend, she’ll be the brunette in high heels. Your turn. How did we meet?”

“You always come into the coffee shop.”

In unison, they recited “The key to a good lie is keeping it as close to the truth as possible.”

Betty paused and smiled at him.   
“One day you got up to courage to ask me out and I said yes. We had our first date at the dog park and bonded over our love for corgis.”

“Again, keep your lies close to the truth.” He shot a grin her way. “It’s going to be fine, Betty. We can do this.” 

“Right.” He again saw that unreadable look in her eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as it came. “We’re here.”

A long winding driveway was in front of them, with an open bronze gate. As Jughead pulled down it, he saw magnolia trees lining the driveway, a tennis court off to the left, and a gigantic mansion looming ahead with an oceanic backdrop. It was the biggest house he had ever seen.

“I know right.” Betty’s voice shook Jughead out of his stupor.

“What?” 

“It’s insane.” She gestured to the house as they parked the car and got out to be greeted by a valet. “Wait till you see the inside.”

As the valet stepped into Jughead’s car, he looked at Betty and could see the anxiety creeping into her features.

“Hey.” He took a chance and gently squeezed her hand. “We got this.”

She nodded, tightened her ponytail and took his hand back in hers as they took their first step towards the biggest performance of their lives.  
As they approached the double doors at the front of the house, they opened to reveal none other than Cheryl Blossom. 

“Well if it isn’t the two lovebirds.” Jughead saw her eyes dart to their hands together and noted that she was still looking for any flaw she could find.

“Hi Cheryl, nice to see you again.” He said with his best smile.

“Welcome to the Blossom Mansion. Not my personal favorite of our mansions, I prefer my home, Thornhill, but since this is where Jason and Polly chose to get married,” she paused and let out a big sigh, “it’ll have to do. Let me show you around.”

Cheryl ushered Betty and Jughead into the largest front hall he had ever seen. He had thought that grand sweeping stairs like the ones in front of him only existed in movies. Cheryl showed them the kitchen, which had not one, not two, but three refrigerators, and the dining room, which in Jug’s opinion was fancy enough to host the Queen of England. 3 living rooms, 2 studies, an actual library, an indoor pool, a game room and Jughead managed to keep his cool through it all, acting as if none of it was anything new to him. When Cheryl explained that there were 7 bedrooms on the second floor, split into 4 separate wings, Jughead was grateful. This meant that Cheryl would be far away from them at night, so they wouldn’t have to worry about her pulling any crazy stunts to prove their lie. But that grateful feeling was short lived.

“And I took the liberty of putting you two in the suite across the hall from the room that I’ll be staying in. It will be so nice to have my dear sister-in-law and her new beau so close by. I can stop in on you guys whenever I need anything. And vice versa.” 

So this is her plan, Jughead thought. She wants to make us as uncomfortable as possible and see where it takes her. Jughead couldn’t help it. He started to feel anger bubble up inside him. How dare she? But then Betty squeezed his left hand with her right and put her other hand on his upper arm, leaning into him.

“That’s so sweet of you Cheryl. Are you ready to see it babe?”

A sudden rush of calm washed over Jughead. 

“Let’s do this.”

Betty kept her hand on his arm and stepped into the room, swiftly shutting the door behind them and leaving Cheryl standing in the hallway.

The room was huge. There was a king size bed with a giant headboard, a sitting area with a sofa and chairs in front of a fireplace, a balcony with a small fancy table and chairs and an ensuite bathroom with a giant bathtub and double sink. 

“I will obviously take the couch.” 

Betty sighed. 

“I know you don’t know Cheryl, but she will definitely poke her head in here at 1 AM to make sure we are sleeping in the same bed. And if we’re not, she will take pictures and send them to the whole family.” 

“At the risk of sounding creepy, if you really want me to sleep in the same bed with you, I’ll do it. But I have a feeling you’re not really comfortable with that, so I say screw Cheryl, let’s lock our door.”

Betty seemed unsure. 

“It’s not like there aren’t reasons for couples to want their doors locked.” 

Betty blushed and sat down on the yellow bedspread. “Thank you, Jughead.” 

“You don’t need to thank me. I haven’t done anything.”

“You came here. And you’re already making it more bearable. I feel like like an exhibit at the zoo every time I’m around these people- everyone’s looking at me and I can’t leave. I feel like I snuck a friend in with me. But I know you’ve only gotten the sneak peek of what you’ll have to deal with while we’re here.”

“Oh don’t worry about me,” Jughead took a step backwards toward the door. “There are three fridges downstairs and all I’ve been thinking about since we left that kitchen was what kind of food is inside them. I intend to go look right now. You’re welcome to join the mission.”

Betty looked at him again, in that way that felt like she was seeing something hidden inside. She smiled and bounced up off of the bed. “They better have some ice cream. I could really go for a milkshake right now.” 


	3. Never Been Kissed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead falls headfirst into meeting the family and friends of the Coopers, including Betty's ex, Archie Andrews.

The kitchen was bustling with people putting lunch together when they got there. Most of the people in the room wore white, Jughead assumed that this marked them as cooks or servers. But a dark-haired girl with pink streaks and fishnets stuck out standing by the French press.

“Betty!” she smiled when she saw them. “I haven’t seen you in weeks!” The girl gave Betty a hug, which Betty easily reciprocated. The girls smiled at each other and then the brunette looked at Jughead. “This must be the boyfriend.”

“Toni, this is Jughead. Jughead, this is Toni, Cheryl’s girlfriend.”

This sweet girl wearing flannel over fishnets with combat boots was Cheryl’s girlfriend? The same Cheryl who had been wearing a brooch both times Jughead saw her and dripped with venom?

“I know.” Toni said, snapping Jughead away from his thoughts. “She seems harsh but she’s actually a sweetheart.” 

Jughead’s surprise must have been visible, and now he blushed in embarrassment.  
“Sorry.” 

“It’s cool, I get that look a lot.” She rolled her eyes and smiled. “So I heard Penelope is serving lobster for lunch. Lobster. At 12 in the afternoon. I’ll never get over this woman.” Toni laughed. 

“Why am I not surprised?” Betty joked, and looked over at Jughead. “We were going to try to steal something but if lunch is only in 20 minutes…”  
Jughead didn’t care if he was getting fed in 20 minutes, he could still eat now. But holding out as much room in his stomach as possible for lobster seemed like a good idea.

As Betty and Jughead made their way out to the back patio where dinner was being served, he noticed some more unfamiliar faces. Some were older, most likely friends of Alice or Penelope, but a few were younger, and even though Jughead had never seen them before, he had a feeling he knew who they were.

A dark haired girl wore a collared black dress and heels that could only be designer. Veronica, Jughead thought. The girl was standing with Alice, talking to a tall red headed boy who had his back to Jughead, but that didn’t stop him from taking a guess as to who he was. He had on a baseball tee to Jughead’s flannel and Alice was looking at him like he hung the stars and the moon. This had to be Archie. The perfect All-American Boy and the guy who Betty had known for her entire life. Jughead felt a twinge of jealousy but he pushed it aside. Right now, he was Betty’s boyfriend, not Archie. Even if that was only an elaborate lie.

Jughead glanced over to gauge Betty’s feelings seeing her ex and he saw a hint of worry in her eyes. He gently took her hand in his and squeezed it. “We got this,” he whispered, as Alice glanced over Archies shoulder and saw them. 

“Betty! Look who’s here!”

Archie turned to face them, chiseled jaw, breaking into a big smile. Jughead tightened his grip on Betty’s hand before realizing it. What didn’t this guy have going for him?

“Archie. I’m glad you could come.”

The red head approached them and Betty’s hand detached from Jughead’s as he engulfed the blonde in a hug. Despite their best efforts, Jughead could see it was awkward. When Archie let go, Betty grabbed Jughead’s hand immediately. 

“This is my boyfriend, Jughead.” 

Archie smiled at Jughead with the same puppy dog grin and Jughead found himself taken aback by how friendly the interaction was going so far. 

“Nice to meet you.” Archie said.

Veronica inched up next to Archie. “Ahem.” She locked eyes with Betty dramatically.

“Jughead, this is my best friend Veronica. V, Jughead.” 

The raven haired girl extended her hand and Jughead took it gratefully, happy for some of the attention to switch from Archie and Betty.  
“You’re treating my girl right, I assume?” Veronicas face went dark. “If not, don’t underestimate the wrath of Veronica Lodge.” She held his gaze for a minute and then laughed. “Kidding, of course. At least mostly.” 

Betty must have felt Jughead tense up, because she put her other hand on his arm again and smiling, said to her best friend “V, don’t scare him.”

“Don’t worry about her, Jughead.” Archie added. “Her barks worse than her bite.” Veronica shoved him and he laughed. “At least most of the time.” 

“You know Betty.” Alice popped her head into their little circle. “Archie here has been getting scouted by the big leagues.” To Jughead, she said, “Archie is a fantastic quarterback.”

He’s a goddamn football player. What can’t the guy do? Jughead looked at his red hair, somehow the perfect balance of coifed and messy, his muscles in the baseball tee. He imagined his own arms were skinny and his beanie made him look like a hobo. 

“How is that going?” Betty asked. Jughead saw Archie’s eyes dart to Veronica for a moment before he answered. But before he could say anything, Penelope called out that lunch was about to be served and everyone needed to be seated. The conversation was tabled, but Jughead had noticed something when Archie’s eyes flicked to Veronica. They were brown. A nice brown, but still. Jughead’s were blue. He was chalking that up as a win.

\- - -

Lunch went well, since Betty and Jughead were seated at a small circle table with the same people they’d already had to get through a meal with- Hal, Alice and Cheryl, with the addition of Toni, who kept the conversation light and didn’t make Betty and Jughead the focus of the meal. 

Betty whispered to Jughead while they were getting up. “Maybe we’ll have a chance to hide for a little bit.” 

But as soon as she said it, Jason cleared his throat from his place near the stairs to the backyard and announced that he was inviting all the young people to play a game of flag football. And before Jughead to whisper back to Betty to get the hell out of here stat, none other than Archie Andrews was coming up behind them and confirming that they’d be playing and slapping Jughead on the back. So down the steps to the backyard they went.

“Alright, teams.” Jason smiled at the group gathered in front of him. “I need a second captain, Polly doesn’t want to be the head of the action.”

“I nominate Archie. I think we all know that he’s the only man for the job.” Cheryl said, and Jughead could swear that she sent an evil smile his way.

“Okay,” Jason said. “Since I’m the one getting married this weekend, I get first pick, and I choose my beautiful soon-to-be wife.”

Everyone laughed, and Archie looked the group over. Don’t you dare pick Betty, Jughead repeated it in his head like a mantra. Don’t you dare pick Betty, don’t you dare pick Betty, don’tyoudarepickBetty

“Jughead.” Archie announced. “I pick Jughead.”

Polly whispered to Jason and he moved forward before Jughead could process what was happening. “We pick Betty.” 

And that was how Jughead ended up on a team with Archie, Veronica and two people from the wedding party named Reggie and Josie, and Betty ended up with Polly, Jason, Toni and a guy named Chuck. Cheryl had decided to lounge on the furniture and root for the home team while drinking lavender lemonade. 

“I suck at sports,” Jughead whispered to Betty. 

“No one is going to care.” She whispered back and touched his arm.

But will you care? He couldn’t help but think.

“Hey,” she caught his eye and it was like she knew what he was thinking yet again. “No judgement here.”

“Star crossed lovers, right?” Cheryl popped up from behind Betty and she clutched Jugheads arm in surprise. Damn, she was strong.  
“You’re on opposing teams. It’s like Romeo and Juliet.” She looked Betty dead in the eye and smiled. “Except Romeo and Juliet did a lot more than hold hands.” She turned and stalked away.

Betty’s cheeks were red when she looked at Jughead. Her eyes landed on his lips. “We have to-“ a whistle cut her off.

“Let’s go!” Jason beckoned.

Betty looked at Jughead again. He knew what she was going to say, but he was nervous. He wasn’t quite sure why. It’s not like it was truly going to mean anything. And they had to get to the field.

As they walked over, the red remained on Betty’s cheeks and Jughead felt that anger for her rise in his stomach again.   
The teams set up for the play and Reggie went for the ball the first chance he could get. All eyes were on Archie to get the first touchdown, so the opposing team was on him like white on rice. Still, Jughead’s team managed to get close to a touchdown very quickly. At the last minute, Archie looked around for someone to throw the ball to, and in the same second Jughead noticed Cheryl watching Betty from the sidelines with a look of disdain. And then Archie nodded and threw the ball to Jughead, who only had to take a few steps to get the first touchdown of the game. So he did.

Veronica applauded. Cheryl jaw dropped. But Jughead only cared about the beautiful blonde running towards him. The blonde from the other team who ran and engulfed him in a hug.

When she pulled back, it was his turn to look at her lips. And when he looked up at her eyes, he saw that she was doing the same. So he lowered his mouth to hers and gave her a light kiss. He held his mouth there and she was still for a moment before leaning into him. And suddenly, he was kissing this girl who he had only just become friends with a few days ago. It didn’t mean anything, it was all a show. 

But that wasn’t true. It meant something. And the way he was feeling in that moment meant Jughead was in deep shit.


	4. Picture Perfect

After the game, most of the older adults went back to their rooms for a short break. But Betty and Jughead decided to explore the grounds. Before they could leave, Veronica and Archie announced that they’d be doing the same. Despite the awkwardness between Betty and Archie, it seemed right to go along with Veronica. But two things snuck to the front of Jughead’s mind: 1. Why are Veronica and Archie hanging out so much? 2. Betty is falling back into a flow with Archie. His mind shelved the first thought for later, as the second seemed much more pressing. What did it mean? Were they going to be friends again? Or was Betty smiling because she thought they could get back together? Jughead wanted to ask, but he felt like he would be overstepping his bounds. 

His phone vibrated as Betty was telling Polly she’d see her later and he pulled it out to see a group message from his friends.

_Sweet Pea: How’s it going with this fake girlfriend?_

_Jughead: Don’t worry about it Pea_

_Kevin: You love her don’t you? It’s the plot to like every chick flick ever._

_Jughead: I don’t love her._

He looked over at Betty, who was laughing at something Jason had said. Jughead had wandered off enough that he didn’t know what was being said, but just seeing her laugh made him smile to himself.

_Jughead: It’s just something to do for the weekend_

_Fangs: Jughead, you forget who you’re talking to. We’re your oldest friends. We have you pegged. You made me pick out a wedding outfit with you before you left._

_Sweet Pea: Everybody knows that you don’t give a shit what to wear to some random wedding. You barely manage to dress yourself on a daily basis._

“You ready?” Jughead looked up from his phone to see Betty right in front of him and Archie and Veronica coming up behind her. He immediately locked his phone.

“Yes. Ready.” Before the steps leading down to the beach that was the backdrop to the manor, there was a beautiful garden. Jughead saw Betty’s eyes light up and sparkle in the sunlight as she perused the flowers. 

“So Betty, how have you been?” Archie awkwardly broached the subject like he was walking on glass.

“I’ve been...good. Honestly I’ve been great. What about you?” 

Jughead was happy to hear it, but he wasn’t sure it was true.

“I’m doing well too. But the way your mom described my life earlier wasn’t completely accurate.” Archie focused his gaze on a magnolia tree on the edge of the garden. He was avoiding eye contact, Jughead noted. “I was getting scouted to go professional, but- I don’t think I want to do it. I don’t want it to take over my life. You know what the trainings been like.” Betty cringed. “I want to be able to focus on other things.” 

“I know that must have been a rough decision, to focus on putting other things first.” There was a slightly bitter tone in her voice, but it just as quickly went away. “It’s a good thing.” 

“Yeah...you guys are the only people I’ve told. I told Ronnie a few weeks ago but made her swear to secrecy.” 

Veronica jumped in. “You know I would’ve told you Betty, but it didn’t feel like it was my place.” 

“Of course, V.” 

“Archie! You out here?!” Reggie called from the front of the garden. “Josie and I might go for a swim, you wanna come?” 

Archie rose his eyebrows at the group in question. Betty and Jughead shook their heads no. 

“I wouldn’t mind taking a dip.” Veronica shrugged. “Or at least showing off my new swimsuit.” 

“Ronnie and I will come!” Archie called back.

“We’ll see you guys at dinner?” Veronica asked. 

“Sure.” Betty smiled. As they left, Betty focused in on a purple flower near the steps to the ocean.  “You probably know this is a pansy.” 

Jughead smiled. “I didn’t actually. Educate me.”

Betty stooped to touch one of the petals of the flower with her forefinger. Jughead copied her and stooped down to her level.

“Pansies are actually hybrid flowers, cultivated to be garden plants. The species is Viola.” She blushed. “That’s not interesting. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s very interesting. Did you go to school or take classes on this?”

“I took a horticulture class back in high school. That’s where the obsession came from. I have some ridiculously sized books on it too. It’s probably not the most attractive thing to tell a guy. That you’re obsessed with plants.”

Did Betty care about being attractive to him?

“I don’t think it’s that you’re obsessed with it. I’d say you’re just very passionate about it. I like listening to people talk about what they’re passionate about.” 

Betty rolled her eyes and stood back up. “Passionate is just a nice way of saying obsessed.” 

“Well I’m not obsessed with photography, but I am passionate about it.” 

The pair stood on the edge of the garden and the beach. A light breeze started up and Jughead could smell the saltwater. Betty looked him in the eye. “What are your favorite types of photos to take?”

He thought for a moment. “I like portraits. Also, I like the true candid photo. Two friends sincerely laughing with the light just right, or a mom holding her baby while the father stares at them with nothing but love in their eyes. But I do flowers too.” He joked.

“Do you have any that I can see?” Betty asked, and he could tell she really wanted to and wasn’t just saying so because she felt like she had to.

“Some in my phone but I don’t like showing people in that resolution.”

“I saw you put your camera bag upstairs. Any on the memory card?” 

“Yes actually. But that would mean going all the way upstairs.” He said it dramatically, like she was suggesting they run a marathon, and she laughed. Her laugh was so genuine, more so than anyone else he knew.

“I want to see them.” She playfully shoved his arm. “I want to see what you’re passionate about.” 

They went upstairs and Jughead pulled the camera out. He first wanted to say what Betty said to him in the car earlier: don’t laugh. The photos on the card were unedited. They might be bad. But somehow he knew that Betty would never laugh at him, only with him.  As he scrolled through the photos, Betty smiled an engagement shoot, giggled at a silly shoot of a dog wedding, which Jughead explained was actually awesome and as much as he hated to admit it, he was really glad he agreed to it. And when they got to the flowers, she let out a sigh. 

“This is in this park by my apartment. Daisies, obviously. It might be a bad photo, I just thought they were really cool in this weird lighting, at night but with the gazebo lighting them from behind.”

Betty smiled and the photo and looked up at Jughead.

“What?” He asked, the word getting caught in his throat.

Betty spoke softly. “I just realized how much I love listening to people talk about what they’re passionate about.” 


	5. Enchanted

Dinner was in the giant dining room at the front of the house. Steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, hot crescent rolls. Jughead was in heaven. The Blossoms may not have seemed like the nicest family, but they sure knew how to feed a crowd. He and Betty ate with Veronica and Archie and neither of them questioned Jughead or Betty on their relationship. Jughead kept his arm around the back of Bettys chair except for during the 5 minutes it took him to down his steak. A few times she reached up and touched his hand and he couldn’t help but feel like it was natural for her just like it was for him. After the dinner ended, Betty excused them and said they were going to get to bed early since they’d travelled all morning and it had been a long day. As they were leaving, Cheryl popped out of nowhere and started walking with them.

  
“An early night, huh? Maybe Toni and I will have an early night as well. Right across the hall.”

  
Betty was tired, Jughead could see it in her eyes, but it wasn’t early-night-tired it was sick-of-harassment-tired.

  
“Honestly Cheryl,” the blonde sighed, “I don’t care what you do. I just want to have a nice night with my boyfriend.” She took Jugheads hand and charged forward, leaving Cheryl standing shocked behind them. She didn’t slow down until they reached the room and closed the door behind them.

  
“From the look on her face, I don’t think anyone’s ever talked to Cheryl like that before.” Jughead laughed, flopping onto the couch.

  
“I have. But only in my worst moments.” Betty sat next to him and put her feet up on the ottoman in front of the fireplace.

  
“I wouldn’t call that bad at all.”

  
She smiled.

  
“So what do you actually want to do tonight? Are we really going to bed at 8:30?” Jughead had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to sleep for at least another 2 hours. Not to mention the fact that it was time to decide what was going to happen with their sleeping arrangements and he had a feeling he was getting the couch.

  
“I have to finish a couple of floral displays for the wedding. I thought I’d get them done now. Do you want to help?”

  
“Me? Help a professional? I have a feeling I’d just ruin your arrangements.”

  
Betty shoved his arm. “I can show you how I’m doing it. Besides, what else is there to do?”

  
She went into the other room and returned with pink, cream and pale yellow flowers. She showed Jughead the basics and he watched her demonstrate like his life depended on it.

  
“Think you can handle it?”

  
“Is that a challenge?” He joked.

  
“Maybe.” she grinned.

  
“Challenge accepted.”

  
“So are you regretting this yet?” Betty asked as she began to work on her arrangement.

  
“Nope. And I’m not going to. Don’t worry about me. I can handle Cheryl. And so can you obviously.”

  
“We’ve known each other a long time. We actually met in middle school and we were friends at first. Or at least I thought we were going to be.”

  
“What happened?”

  
Betty sighed. “I went over to her house and she said we were going to play Truth or Dare and dared me to act out this scene, pretending to tell this guy I liked him, and it turns out she was recording the whole thing and sent it to everyone. I was humiliated. After that whenever I played Truth or Dare with anyone I always picked truth and sometimes... I lied.”

  
Jughead gasped. “No! No one ever lies in Truth or Dare! It’s sacred!”

  
“I know.” Betty was laughing. “I’m awful.”

  
“I guess I know not to play Truth or Dare with you.”

  
He saw a flicker of determination in Bettys eyes.  
“Ask me anything. Anything you want to know. I solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

  
“And how do I know you’re not lying?”

  
“Because you’re the only person in my life right now that I’m not lying to.” she replied, and the truth in her statement silenced him for a moment.

  
“Okay... what’s your favorite animal?”

  
“Weak!” she practically shouted.

  
“Well I don’t know how far you want me to take this!”

  
“Farther than ‘what’s your favorite animal?’” She imitated him.

  
“Well you are avoiding the question.”

  
She shook her head. “Hedgehogs.”

  
“Hedgehogs? You have the whole animal kingdom to choose from and you’re going with Hedgehogs?”

  
“I’m just telling you the truth.” she shrugged. 

   
He shook his head in disbelief. Betty set the flowers down and turned to sit sideways on the couch to face him. He did the same.

  
“Now I get to ask you a question.”

  
“That wasn’t the deal.”

  
“That’s how the game is played. What, are you scared?”

There was a playful tone to her voice but a challenge in her eyes. He knew he would tell her anything she wanted to know. Except maybe how he felt when he looked into those eyes. He smiled at her.

  
“Never.”

**10:30 PM**  
“I’d go to Paris.” Betty clutched a pillow against her chest.

  
“Why Paris?”

  
“I don’t know, I’ve just always wanted to go. To be at the Eiffel Tower and go to the Louvre.”

  
“Done.” Betty had finished her arrangements half an hour ago but Jughead had taken his time. Despite the extra time he took, he wasn’t sure if it was any good.  
Betty looked it over and smiled at him. “It’s great.”

  
“Are you just saying that?” his voice betrayed him, and he knew she could tell he was genuinely concerned.

  
“No." She answered softly. "No lying remember?”  
Jughead let out a sigh of relief and leaned back into the couch.

  
“Now. If you, Jughead Jones, could go anywhere in the world where would you go?”

  
“The kitchen.”

  
Betty squealed. “What?!”

  
“I’m hungry.”

  
“We ate four hours ago!”

  
“And?”

  
Betty glanced at the door and stood up.

  
“Okay, let’s go.”

  
They snuck into the hallway and made sure to check that Cheryl’s door was closed. Then Betty grabbed his hand and started running. He couldn’t help but notice that it was the first time she was holding his hand without an audience. They ducked into the kitchen and she whispered “so what is it that you want to eat?”  
He thought for a moment.

  
“Cookies.”

  
“Mm. With some hot chocolate.” She added.

  
“Exactly.” He reached into the cabinets while she went to the fridge for milk. The rest of the mission was done in silence. He found Oreos hidden behind other, fancier items. She poured hot chocolate into two mugs. They tiptoed back to the suite, but right outside the door, Betty slipped in her fuzzy socks and a bit of hot chocolate spilled from one of the mugs. She half squealed, half gasped and Jughead tried to contain his laughter. Suddenly, there was a noise from Cheryl’s room and they froze. Jughead pulled open the door and lightly pushed Betty inside, where they both erupted in laughter. It was becoming that time of the night where silly things start to seem funny, where your filter starts to fade away. Jughead wanted it to last as long as possible.

**1:00 AM**   
Jughead looked at the girl next to him on this cushy couch in front of the fireplace. The Oreos were almost entirely gone and she had contributed to that just as much as he had.

  
He now knew that she loved Toni Morrison, once played Tree #4 in an elementary school play and was terrified of what lived at the bottom of the ocean (who isn’t?) She knew that he won a pie eating contest in high school, had never been to DisneyLand, and that he wore his beanie because it somehow made him feel more secure- something he’d never told anyone. He felt like this girl who he had only just started getting to know somehow understood him in a way that no one else in his life did.

  
“So, tell me if I’m crossing the line, but.. what’s the whole story with you and Archie?” He’d been thinking about it all day, but as soon as he asked, he immediately regretted it. But Betty just sighed.

  
“It felt easy. We grew up together. He was cute. My parents liked him, his parents liked me, we already knew everything about each other.”  
It was quiet for a moment, but he knew she wasn’t done.  
“It just wasn’t what we thought it would be. For either of us. And he was training a lot at the time, it felt like I never even saw him. But the truth is...” she let out a big yawn.  
“Sometimes it’s easy to forget that just because you have all the pieces of the puzzle, that doesn’t mean you can just throw them together and have them fit perfectly. Not if it isn't the right puzzle in the first place.”

  
She turned and grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and yawned again. She offered him some and he shook his head, trying to be a gentleman, but she insisted and suddenly they were sharing the blanket.

  
“Have you ever been in love?” She asked him, and he could tell that she was starting to fall asleep. Before he answered, she suddenly had her head an his shoulder, cuddled up under his arm. He gently put his hand down on her back.

  
“No, I can’t say I have.” He felt a pang of sadness that she had brought it up after he mentioned Archie, but also a sense of warmth with her cuddled up next to him.

  
“Me neither.” She whispered, and then she was asleep. Jughead felt the warmth cover the sadness. He pulled his phone carefully out of his pocket so that he wouldn’t get poked by it in the middle of the night. He had absolutely no intention of moving from this spot, with Betty Coopers head slowly drifting closer to his chest. It felt great, but also temporary.

  
He opened his Messages.

  
_Jughead: You’re right. I like her._

  
It only took a minute before he got a reply.

  
_Fangs: I hate to say I told you so but..._

  
_Sweet Pea: I told you so._

  
_Fangs: It’s fine Jug. Just take a step back. You can still make it out of this alive._

  
Betty snuggled closer to him in her sleep and put her hand on his chest. Jughead sent out one more text before putting his phone down and closing his eyes.

  
_Jughead: Too late._


	6. Just Go With It

Jughead woke up to find that he had slept the rest of the night with Betty Cooper snuggled up under his arm. She hadn’t moved, except to put her hand on his leg, likely in her sleep. He smiled as he slowly woke up, not wanting to move, but realizing that it was already 10 AM and they were going to miss the big family breakfast. They’d forgotten to set an alarm.

  
“Betty?” He said softly, and nudged her with his arm.

  
“Mhmmmmmm..” She didn’t open her eyes.

  
“It’s 10 AM. We gotta get downstairs if we want to have the full breakfast spread.”

  
His stomach growled and Betty giggled and opened her eyes.

  
“Someone’s hungry.” She paused for a moment. “I’m hungry too. I want pancakes. I need coffee.”

  
She sat up and went into the bathroom, coming back out in a fresh pair of jeans and a plain white tee shirt. Even in such simple attire, she looked beautiful.

Jughead changed into a black shirt and a fresh flannel. While he was in the bathroom, he looked at his phone. A work related email, a customer asking if he could photograph her baby shower. And a whole thread of his friends in response to the text he had sent the night before.

_Kevin: This whole thing feels like such a classic rom com!_

  
_Sweet Pea: Kev, not everyone watches those._

  
_Fangs: Says the guy who watched 27 Dresses at movie night a month ago, not to mention I think you’ve seen the Lizzie McGuire movie 3 times at this point._

  
_Sweet Pea: Okay but rom coms aren’t real life. Things like that don’t happen._

  
_Fangs: This is the perfect set up. Fake dating turns into real feelings…_

  
_Kevin: A classic rom com trope. Tell her how you feel!!_

  
_Sweet Pea: You guys are ridiculous, go focus on your own love story and let Jughead do what he needs to do. You’re getting married in two weeks, worry about yourselves._

Jughead put his phone in his pocket without responding and they headed down to the breakfast table. Again, there was a full spread. Pancakes, French toast, fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns. Jughead took two of everything and sat down with Betty near Jason. Polly was standing by the window on the phone. The conversation didn’t seem to be particularly pleasant.

  
Jughead shoveled all the scrambled eggs into his mouth with the hash browns before Polly came to join them. She groaned as she sat down and he could feel a story coming.

  
“That was the wedding photographer. He just cancelled for tonight. He’ll be here tomorrow but now we have no photographer for the rehearsal dinner, which will be prime time to get family photos.” She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

  
Betty looked at Jughead with a question in her eyes, but she didn’t offer for him. He did that himself.

  
“Really?? You would do that? We can pay you, this is supposed to be a weekend off for you, to enjoy the wedding with Betty. But we can obviously pay you.” 

  
“It’s just for tonight, and you don’t have to pay me. I’d be honored.”

  
Betty gave him that radiant smile again. He realized that they were somehow naturally communicating without words after only a day together.

  
“Actually, Betty, I was wondering if you’d be interested in combining our talents. A little photo shoot of some of your arrangements.”

  
“I’d like that. As long as I don’t have to be in the pictures. I look awful in every picture ever.” Betty tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. Whether she wore it in a ponytail, or down in curling waves, she still looked perfect to him.

  
“Somehow I doubt that.”

\- - -

Jughead and Betty made their way around the side of mansion to a giant magnolia tree and a wall of greenery that lined the property. The sun was shining and Jughead could smell the flowers that Betty held in her hands. She had tied one of her arrangements together with a piece of twine rather than put it in a vase.

  
“Does here work?” Betty pointed awkwardly towards some bushes on the edge of the property. It was as if having the camera on in her general vicinity was already making her nervous.

  
“This is good.”Jughead nodded.

  
“So… how are we doing this?” She walked over to the bushes.

  
“Well. You want to show off your flowers so…” he lightly touched her arm to move her into the light. “Stand here.”

  
“You won’t get my face right?” She said, and lifted the flowers protectively in front of her.

  
“Right.”

  
“Should I be doing something with my arms?” She wiggled them around like she was a bird trying to fly and failing terribly.  
Jughead laughed.

  
“It’s okay, Betty, just relax.”

  
He saw her arms relax slightly and started snapping away.

  
“When you do photo shoots do you usually talk to the people you’re photographing?” Betty said from behind the flowers.

  
“Sometimes. I usually talk to little kids when they’re there. Tell them jokes to try to keep them engaged and maybe catch a laugh on camera. My jokes aren’t fantastic though.”

  
“Tell me one.” She didn’t move the flowers from her face, but fluffed them with one of her hands.

  
“Want to hear a joke about a piece of paper?”

  
“I guess so?”

  
“Never mind. It’s tearable.”

  
Betty moved the flowers from her face to give him a look that said 'are you serious?'

  
“That is such a dad joke.”

  
“Dad jokes can be funny. Sit down, I want to see how the light looks that way.” Betty followed the instruction and sat criss cross applesauce in the grass.

  
“Try again.” she said once she was settled.

  
“I’ll make you a deal. If I can make you laugh at one of my jokes, you have to let me take some actual pictures of you.” Betty rolled her eyes. “C’mon, it’s not like you have to show them to anyone. And I can delete any of the ones that you don’t like.”

  
“We’ll see.” Betty placed the flowers back in front of her face.

  
“Why do melons have weddings?”

  
“Why?”

  
“Because they cantaloupe.”  
Betty groaned from behind her hiding place.

  
“Tough crowd. Did you hear about that new restaurant called Karma? There’s no menu. You get what you deserve.”

  
At that moment, Jughead heard an audible snort from behind the flowers.

  
“You’re laughing!” He started towards her.

  
“No I’m not!” She shoved the flowers closer to her face.

  
“Liar!”

It all happened in a split second. Jughead tried to pull the flowers from her hands but she held on tight. He glanced down and saw that his shoe was untied and he was about to trip over the lace. Betty pulled on the flowers and suddenly he was on top of her.

  
Jughead panicked, but Betty let go of the flowers and they toppled to her side, exposing the huge grin on her face.  
Both of them were silent for a moment, Jughead’s hands on either side of her shoulders, holding him just above her. Her grin fading into that normal sparkling smile.

  
“You” he whispered “were laughing.”

  
“You” she copied his tone “are correct.”

  
“That means you owe me a photo shoot.”

  
“It won’t be pretty.”

He said it before he could think better of it.  
“I don’t think that’s possible.”

  
He let his gaze drop to her lips and then back to her eyes. She was looking at him with that look from the drive up the day before. The one like she was seeing something that he wasn’t. She’d seen him look at her lips, he realized and felt heat rush to his cheeks.

  
“Um, guys?” He turned to see Veronica standing a few yards away. “Not to interrupt whatever Drew Barrymore moment you have going on here but Alice is calling a mandatory bridesmaids meeting. Apparently we need to go over some kind of Code of Conduct.”

  
Jughead jerked up and snapped back to his reality, getting to his feet and reaching down to help Betty up. Before they started back towards the house Betty caught his eye. “IOU?”

  
Jughead cleared his throat. “I’ll accept it.”


	7. What a Girl Wants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> me putting my marshmallow fluff on low heat

The rest of the day flew by. A light lunch was served, meant to help all the guests that were now arriving at the house tide themselves over but also leave room for the main event of the day: the rehearsal dinner. Distant family members started to come out of the woodwork: uncles, great-aunts, cousins twice removed. The brides old babysitter, who was, of course, Betty’s old babysitter as well and talked Betty and Jughead’s ear off for a solid half an hour. 

Preparations were underway in the backyard, where the rehearsal dinner was being hosted. The actual wedding was to be held on the beach the following day. Jughead thought this was funny, since backyard weddings were usually a good way to save money, but the Blossoms were sparing no expense for their son, with decor galore for tonight alone. Everyone was expected to be at the dinner promptly at 6 PM for the official welcoming from the bride and groom. Alice roped Jughead and Betty into helping with any last minute needs, and before they knew it, it was time to go upstairs and get dressed for dinner. 

Jughead had brought two nicer get ups: a pale blue button down, black tie and dress pants, and a similar outfit with an added black vest for the wedding day. He changed quickly and let Betty get ready in the bathroom. When she came out, he was sitting on the couch toying with the tie around his neck, hoping it looked okay, but when he saw Betty everything else left his mind.

“Jughead, could you…?” She trailed off, turning and gesturing to her mostly zipped dress. He immediately leapt up and finished zipping it. It was a low cut back, but when she turned to face him, he saw a sweetheart neckline, pulled in at the waist, with a skirt that fell at her knees. In baby blue, the same color as his dress shirt.

Betty noticed this at the same time as him and laughed. 

“We didn’t even plan…” she moved her hair back over her shoulder. It was a half up half down style. Yet another way of doing her hair that Betty Cooper pulled off effortlessly.

“I know. You look beautiful.”

She smiled at him and reached for his hand. “You ready for this? There’s probably 50 more people down there than there were the last time we explained ourselves.”

He took her hand in his and squeezed it. “We got this.”

\- - -

The dinner was in full swing. Polly was smiling, Alice was distracted by her relatives, and Betty and Jughead had started to make their rounds. 

“So, Betty, how did you meet this lovely young man?” An old neighbor asked, eyeing Jughead’s beanie. 

“Where do you work, Jughead?” inquired one of Polly’s friends from college. 

And Betty leaned into Jughead, over and over, and smiled and answered, and Jughead looked down at her like she hung the sun and the moon, which he didn’t have a hard time faking, because god dammit it was too close to the truth. 

Five introductions deep, Betty pulled Jughead away and whispered “Free. Bar.” They made their way over and each got a glass of wine, downing them during Introductions 6 and 7. 

“You know what’s absolutely insane?” Betty asked while they waited in line again at the bar.

“No, what?” 

“All of these people are so concerned about my love life, like its the most interesting thing about me. If you can’t think of a single other thing to talk to me about, then why are we even talking? Women are more than their love stories.” 

“You’re right.” 

“And you know what else? Screw you Mrs. Klugel, tell someone else about your new Weiner dog. Don’t tell me how cute he is and then say you don’t have pictures of him. That’s just plain mean.”

Jughead laughed. Betty shook her head.

“I’ve been told that after a drink, I start losing my filter.” She shrugged.

“Well I can’t wait to see what you have to say after you have a second.” Jughead looked around the room and self-consciously adjusted his beanie.

“Hey.” her voice pulled him back. “Stop messing with it. You look great.”

She paused and scanned his face. “Although, I’d like to see what your hair looks like under there.”

Jughead gave her a smile. “Not great. Hat hair, you know.”

\- - -

A three course meal, two glasses of wine, and a few toasts from lesser family members later, Betty took his hand in hers. “C’mon, I have a surprise for you.”

She led him around the corner of the house. “This was Polly’s idea. Penelope didn’t like it much, she wanted to do the classic groom’s cake. That’s probably why she put it off to the side like this.” 

She gestured to a table by the magnolia tree they had been under earlier that day. It was covered in ice cream toppings, and a man stood off to the side with giant buckets of ice cream and a scoop.

“An ice cream sundae station.” Jughead’s eyes widened.

“I thought you’d like it.”

Jughead gave her a little bow. “Ladies first.” 

She giggled and curtsied in response, then got two scoops of strawberry with whipped cream on top. Jughead followed suit, opting for chocolate ice cream and an additional chocolate drizzle. 

“You two make a lovely couple.” The ice cream vendor smiled.

Betty took a swipe off her whipped cream and stuck her finger in her mouth. “Thank you.”

Jughead thought it must have been the best compliment he’d ever gotten. 

He noticed a bit of whipped cream on the corner of Betty’s mouth and reached over to wipe it off. Her eyes caught his for a moment and he made a split second decision, leaning in to give her a light kiss. It was only for a second, but when he pulled away he realized that the only people around were Betty, him and the vendor. She was looking at him and he cleared his throat and whispered “Gotta stay in character, right?”

As she smiled and nodded, he thought he saw something else behind her eyes for a just a second, but then it was gone. He was probably imagining it anyway, hoping that she felt the same way he did. He wanted to kick himself for not letting the moment sit for a second longer. Why was he so nervous to admit what he really wanted? But he knew the answer. Rejection was his biggest fear. 

If he was being honest, it scared him a hell of a lot more than what lived at the bottom of the ocean.

\- - -

Betty excused herself to use the restroom and Jughead decided to wait in the kitchen for her, where no one but servers would have the chance to corner him alone. He was considering opening the fridge when he heard a small voice come from below him.

“I like your hat.”

He looked down to see a small dark haired girl, maybe 5 years old, in a pink and white polka dot dress. 

“Thanks. I like your dress.”

“Thank you. My mommy got it for me for only 10 dollars on the sale rack.” She said as if it was her proudest achievement. Jughead looked around and realized that there were no adults coming to look for her.

“What a steal. Where is your mommy now?” He didn’t know if this was the best time for a babysitting gig.

“I dunno.”

“How old are you?” He crouched down to her level.

“5.” So he was right.

“Why are you in the kitchen?”

“Lookin’ for the dessert.”

“A woman after my own heart.” He put his hand on his chest. “You really should know where your mommy is though.”

The little girl let out a dramatic sigh. “I knowwwww. I’m just a kiddddd.”

Jughead pretended to be shocked. “What? They didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?” She looked at him suspiciously.

“It’s not that your mom wants to keep an eye on you. It’s that she needs you to keep an eye on her. It goes both ways. Didn’t you get your handbook?”

“Handbook?”

“The Five Year Old Handbook. You were supposed to get it in the mail?”

The little girl’s eyes widened as she shook her head no.

“Well, there’s a whole list of rules, mostly the rules that your mommy tells you, but what you don’t realize is that you’re not just following them for your safety. It’s actually mostly for her safety. You’re her protector.”

Jughead heard a giggle from the doorway and glanced up to see Betty watching. The little girl looked up too. 

“Is he telling the truth?”

“Of course.” Betty smiled. “So why don’t we help you find your mommy?”

Jughead saw the girl glance to the fridge. “And the dessert. Don’t worry. I know where it is.”

As they walked back outside, the girl had a newfound determination to find her mother. They quickly found her because she was in fact looking for her daughter, but hadn’t thought to check inside the house. 

As they walked away, Jughead asked “How much of that did you hear?”

“Pretty much all of it. Don’t worry, it was sweet.” 

The party was winding down, despite most of the guests still being in the dark on the sundae table. Alice was still talking a mile a minute to anyone that she could find, but Polly and Jason seemed to be off in their own little world. The guests were pretty much keeping themselves busy at this point.

“I think it’s time to sneak out.” Betty suggested.

“Mission accepted.” Jughead grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door, breaking into a run. She erupted in laughter as rounded the corner into the hallway. 

“Shhhh. The enemy could have spies anywhere.” He pulled her up the stairs and didn’t stop running until they made it to the suite.

He put his back against the door and looked around the room dramatically. “I think we’re safe now.” 

“You’re ridiculous.” She smiled and he dropped his act and smiled back. She looked so beautiful. That smile got him every time. 

She held his gaze and he desperately tried not to let his eyes go to her lips again. But her eyes dropped to his and suddenly he had nothing to worry about. Because Betty Cooper was kissing him. 

She was kissing him without an audience. No one to convince. And he was kissing her back, letting his hand cup her face while hers wrapped around his neck. He didn’t know how long it went on but when she pulled away it was all he could do not to pull her back in immediately. And then he saw her looking at him, only inches away from his face, but far enough that she could search his eyes, looking for something, questioning something. 

“Betty.”

“Jughead.”

He finally let out the words he’d been holding back for longer than he wanted to admit.

“I don’t want to pretend anymore.”

She took a breath for what was only a second but felt like an eternity. 

“Me either.”

And now it was his turn to kiss her. She began to slowly unbutton his shirt and he helped her get his tie over his head. They paused again and looked at each other and he reached up and removed his beanie. The one he always had on, a wall he put up for everyone else in his life, but he no longer wanted to keep that wall up around her. 

She reached up and ran her hands through his hair and smiled as she came back to kiss him again. Then she was moving his hands around her back to help him undo the zipper he had helped her zip up only hours ago. He gently moved her back towards the bed, and when the back of her legs hit it, she pulled him down with her. 

Her lips tasted like the whipped cream from her ice cream sundae. His lips were on her neck and she shivered before pulling him closer. Her hands were in the hair that he never let anyone touch. This didn’t feel like it was motivated by their mutual tipsiness. It wasn’t rushed, only intimate. He let his hand brush the edge of her bra and she pulled back to look into his eyes. 

That look. Like she was seeing something secret and special. 

But this time Jughead could see it too.


	8. Made of Honor

Jughead woke up to the sunlight shining in through the windows. He opened his eyes to find that the space next to him was empty and for a moment, a wave of panic washed over him. Then he saw a note on the bedside table.

> _Jughead,_   
>  _My mom is freaking out about table placements. I’ll be back soon._   
>  _Betty_

Jughead smiled, rolled out of the bed and made his way to the shower. He was floating in the clouds thinking about the night before. Everything felt right with the world and as far as he was concerned, this was going to be the best day ever. He’d find a chance to talk to Betty and make sure she knew exactly how he felt. And if last night was any indication, she seemed to feel the same way.

As he was brushing out his hair in the bathroom, he heard the door open. “Jug?” Betty called out.  
“In here!”

  
She appeared in the bathroom doorway. She was in a pale pink sweater that Jughead thought looked to be the softest fabric on the planet.

  
“Is that weird?” She made a face. “Do people call you Jug?”

  
“Yeah, I’m used to it. How’s your mom doing?”

  
Betty sighed. “She was knocking on our door at 7 AM panicking because Jason’s uncle showed up this morning and hadn’t RSVPed. She didn’t know where to seat him at the reception and thought she was going to have to move everything around. It took me an hour to convince her that she could just seat him with the other aunts and uncles and one extra chair wasn’t a big deal.” Betty already looked like she was losing her mind and she’d only been up for an hour. Definitely not a good time to have a DTR conversation.

  
“Is there anything I can do?”

  
“Actually, could you infiltrate the groomsmen’s room in an hour or so? Then I can have eyes on the inside to make sure that they’re doing what they’re supposed to and hopefully keep my mom from popping her head in there at innapropriate times.”

  
“On it.” Jughead saluted.

  
“Thank you. Now I have to go help set up for breakfast. See you down there?”

  
“Be down in 5.”

  
Betty leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then disappeared.

\- - -

When Jughead made his way to the first dining room, things were already in full swing. Alice was acting as commander in chief as wedding guests streamed in to get fueled up for the big day. When she saw Jughead, she beckoned him over with a look like irritation in her eyes.

  
“Can you please get a plate for Jason and take it up to the grooms suite? The imbecile forgot to eat this morning and he’s getting married in 3 hours and 47 minutes.”

  
Of course she knows the timing down to the minute, he thought, and did as he was told. While he piled two plates for Jason and himself, he scanned the room for Betty and saw her talking animatedly to Veronica by the kitchen door. Archie and Cheryl were seated at a table near the coffee pot and as Jughead crossed the room, he noticed Archie watching Betty and Veronica with a nervous look in his eye. Cheryl gave him one of her sickening smiles and waved. She looked like she was up to something, but Jughead knew that Alice had her eye on him to make sure he was following her instructions, so he grabbed a cup of coffee and headed upstairs.

He didn’t have time for whatever bullshit Cheryl Blossom was trying to pull today. And besides, he was on top of the world. Nothing could bring him down.

\- - -

Jughead posted himself in the groomsmen’s room like Betty had asked him to very easily. The minute he showed up with food, he was welcomed with open arms. None of the guys were dressed for the wedding yet, least of all Jason, but it seemed that Alice had already told them that they couldn’t leave the room until she told them to. So Jughead became their bridge to the outside world.

  
“What’s it like down there?” Jason asked.

  
“Alice is watching everyone like a hawk, on high alert.”

  
Jason nodded. “Did you see Polly?”

  
“No, but she’s probably in the girls room going just as stir-crazy as you are.”

  
“You’re not getting cold feet, are ya Blossom?” Reggie joked.

  
“Not even a little bit.” But he did look nervous, and being in this room was not helping him distract himself.

  
“You know, I’m at your wedding, but I don’t even know how you and Polly met.” Jughead offered a way to pass the time, and Jason took it, telling him the whole story while the other guys gave commentary.

\- - -

  
Before he knew it, he had to go back to the suite to get changed into his wedding clothes.   
The clock was ticking down, and as much as Jughead wanted to go find Betty, he knew she was busy.  
Still, he sent her an update on what was happening on his end of things.

_Jughead: You can tell your mom the guys are getting dressed. How are things going over there?_

  
_Betty: They would be better if my mom would leave us alone for a minute._

  
_Jughead: You in quarantine too? Anything I can do?_

  
_Betty: I’m going to sneak out. Meet me in the suite?_

  
_Jughead: Already here._

A few minutes later, Betty showed up and closed the door behind her. Every time he saw her, she was somehow more beautiful. She had the bridesmaid dress on, which he’d seen other girls wearing when he made it down the hall earlier, but on her it was something completely different. Short and satiny pink, even the giant flower on the side worked for her.

  
“Hey.” He smiled.

  
“Hey.” She smiled briefly, but he could see worry in her eyes.

  
“What’s going on?”

  
“My mom is driving me crazy. I think she’s going to make Polly back out of this whole thing just so she won’t have to listen to her anymore. She only let me leave because Cheryl forgot to give Jason this.” She held up a shiny red brooch that Jughead hadn’t noticed she was holding. “It’s his something borrowed.”

  
“And Cheryl couldn’t give it to Jason herself because?”

  
“My mom doesn’t trust Cheryl as far as she can throw her. She thought if she sent Cheryl out of the room she’d never see her again.”

  
“And here you are, hiding from her.”

  
Betty sighed.

  
“C’mere.” Jughead whispered, and took her in his arms.

  
“I just needed to breathe for a second.” Betty mumbled into his shirt.

  
“I know.”

  
Betty pulled back a little bit to look at his face. “You make me feel calm. I don’t know what it is but..” She trailed off.

  
“I know.” He said again, because he felt the same way.

  
Suddenly the door was opening and Alice Cooper was glaring at them. Betty jumped to attention and Jughead cursed the woman for ruining the moment.

  
“Betty. You told me that you were going to take that brooch to Jason and come right back. If I knew you were going to dawdle I would have done it myself.”

  
“I just needed a second. I’m going now.”

  
Alice scoffed.  
“Oh no, you’re not. We’ll have your boyfriend take it. His sister isn’t getting married in 34 minutes.” She gestured for Betty to give the brooch to Jughead and neither of them wanted to argue. “Now take that right to Jason. He’s in the study downstairs. As soon as you’ve delivered it, go find a seat in the audience. No one should be in here anymore other than the wedding party.”

  
“Will do,” Jughead squeezed Betty’s hand. “You got this,” he whispered and she smiled at him before she walked out the door.

  
Before leaving, Alice paused for a moment.  
“You know, Jughead, you’ve really been invaluable to us today. And yesterday as well, with all those photos you took at the rehearsal dinner. I’m glad Betty brought you after all.”

  
The ‘after all’ was not lost on him, but he just smiled and said “I’m glad I could help.”  
And then he was off again, following Alice Cooper’s instructions.

\- - -

As Jughead was turning the corner to the study, he ran into one of the caterers and dropped the brooch on the ground. It took him a second to pick it up, and in that second, he heard Jason talking to someone else in the room.

  
“And she doesn’t know how you feel?” Jason was saying.

  
“I need to tell her before it’s too late.”

  
These words might have meant nothing to Jughead if it had been any other situation. If Reggie Mantle, for example, had said them, Jughead probably would have moved on and erased the moment from both his short and long-term memory. But unfortunately, it wasn’t Reggie that Jason had been talking to. It wasn’t some other groomsman that Jughead didn’t know saying those words. It was the golden boy himself, Archie Andrews. And there was only one person that Jughead could think of that he might be talking about. Betty.

Maybe something was going to bring Jughead down after all.


	9. How to Lose a Girl in 3 Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every rom com has it's third act.

He has to be talking about Betty. What else could he be talking about? The second Jughead thought this, he realized how ridiculous he was being.

There were over 200 people at this wedding. Archie could be talking about someone Jughead didn’t even know existed. And besides, he had been here for two days, same as Betty and Jughead. If he wanted to profess his love to her, why hadn’t he done it already? He’d barely even talked to them, so why was Jughead assuming this now?

_My insecurities are getting the best of me._ He realized this and knew that he was over-reacting. Betty Cooper had been in his arms 10 minutes ago, not Archie’s. He had nothing to worry about.

  
So he opened the door to the study, walked in and handed Jason the brooch. And then he turned around and headed to the beach. It was wedding time.

\- - -

Even though he’d already seen Betty in her bridesmaid dress, he did a double take watching her come down the aisle. He’d never felt this way about someone before, he realized. And as much as it scared him, being here, hearing two people exchange wedding vows, feeling the people around him sigh with happiness for them, he decided not to worry about it. Happy endings clearly existed sometimes, after all.

As the wedding party completed their duties and Jason and Polly started to greet guests as Mr. and Mrs., Jughead saw Betty looking around the crowd. _For me_ , he thought, and when her eyes landed on him and her mouth turned up at the corners he knew he was right. He may have hit a minor speed bump, but he was back on top of the world as she walked over to him and took his hand in hers.

  
“Ready to hit the reception buffet?” she asked.

  
“I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life.”

\- - -

The reception went into full effect immediately. There was a dance floor lined with fairy lights, clearly intended to last long into the night even though it was only mid-afternoon. The table filled with wedding presents was quickly overflowing and the buffet line was never ending. And when the couple of the day showed up after some post-wedding photos, everyone was already tipsy and cheering them on as they walked to the floor for their first dance.

  
“The energy at weddings is out of this world,” Betty commented as her sister stared into Jason’s eyes and swayed back and forth.

  
“As someone who gets paid to attend a lot of weddings, I can honestly say that not all of them are as love-filled as this one.”

  
“Do you have awful wedding stories?”

  
“More like second hand embarrassing wedding stories.”

  
“Tell me. Tell me now.”

  
“Well, there are the brides who randomly pull out surprises for their husbands at the last minute, like this one woman showed up on a horse drawn carriage, I’m sure thinking that her husband would think it was completely charming, fairy tale romance and all that.”

  
“He didn’t like it?”

 

“He tried to keep his cool but his face said ‘who the HELL is paying for that?’”

  
Betty laughed. The first dance was finishing up and the rest of the attendees were now allowed to join the dancing. Jughead reached his hand out to Betty.  
“Would you like to dance?”

  
“I’d love to.”

  
Jughead led Betty out onto the dance floor and put his hands on her waist. She wrapped hers around his neck and he considered whether this was the right moment to tell her exactly how he felt. Her hair was blowing lightly in the breeze and he reached to move a strand away from her face. She smiled at him and then leaned into his chest. No, he thought, it can wait. This is too perfect a moment to mess up with any kind of talking.

  
So they just danced. A slow song, to a quick song, Betty laughing while Jughead embarrassed himself with ridiculous dance moves that he would never have done in public before, but that now seemed worth it for her reaction alone. Then they went back to the table and people-watched. The little girl from the night before was dancing with the ring bearer and Jughead was caught up in the high of a great day fading into a great night. The sun started to set and Betty leaned on his shoulder the way she had that first night they stayed in the mansion and he put his arm around her and took a deep breath in.

Sometime later, Jughead wasn't sure how long, Polly came and pulled Betty up to dance and Jughead pulled his phone out of his pocket.

_Jughead: I’m going to tell her._

  
_Kevin: That you love her?!_

  
_Jughead: I wouldn’t go THAT far, Kev._

But as he thought about it, he realized it might not be too far from the truth.

_Fangs: This is better than any rom com I’ve ever seen. I want an update ASAP._

  
_Sweet Pea: You are so dramatic._

  
_Fangs: Shut up Pea, you know you’re into this too_

  
_Sweet Pea: Whatever. Go get your girl, Jones._

“Jughead?” He looked up to see Veronica standing in front of him. “Could you help me move some of the presents? I’m worried they might start falling off the table if they don’t get reorganized.”

  
“Yeah, no problem.”  
As he finished neatly piling some of the boxes on the floor under the table, Jughead heard a voice from behind him.

  
“Romance is really in the air tonight isn’t it?”

  
He turned to see Cheryl standing there. He swore that sickening smile was just normal for her.

  
“No offense Cheryl, but I don’t really want to talk right now. I’m going to go find Betty.” He tried to side step her, but she mirrored his movements.

  
“I think you’ll want to hear what I have to say.” he realized she had her right hand behind her back, and she pulled it out to reveal his phone. He’d left it sitting on the table when Veronica called him over without even thinking about it.

  
She turned the screen to face him, open to his group chat. “This is the perfect set up.” She recited. “Fake dating turns into real feelings.” She emphasized the word ‘fake’ with such gusto that Jughead’s heart dropped.

  
“I think it’s time for you to go.” Cheryl’s voice somehow dripped with sweetness. “I don’t like liars and I bet everyone else here would find this whole story hilarious if I told it during my speech tonight.”

  
“Are you threatening me?”

  
“Of course not Jughead. No one needs to know. As long as you disappear like it never even happened.” She blinked her eyes innocently.

  
“Just let it go Cheryl. It doesn’t even matter anymore.”

  
“Why?” Cheryl smirked. “Because you’re going to tell her that you love her?”

  
“It’s really none of your business. And no one would even believe you because we’re together for real anyway.” He almost thought this was true, even if the ‘together’ part wasn’t quite accurate. But hopefully it would be soon.

  
“Okay. Sure. I guess I’ll let you go find your girlfriend then. Oh wait!” Cheryl’s face changed to fake surprise. “Isn’t that her right over there?” Cheryl pointed across the dance floor and Jughead felt something terrible coming before he even looked. Betty was standing on the edge of the dance floor talking to none other than Archie Andrews.

  
“I had such an interesting conversation with Archie earlier today.” Cheryl said casually. She even glanced down and looked at her nails as she spoke, as if she wasn’t trying to ruin everything in one fell swoop. “He had something really important that he needed to tell Betty but he couldn’t find the right time. Not with you buzzing around her like a bee.”

  
“It doesn’t matter Cheryl.” Jughead said again, but he could tell from the look in Cheryl’s eyes that she saw right through him.

  
“Why? Because of last night? One night does not a relationship make. Or at least that’s what I heard Betty telling Veronica in the girls room today. A direct quote, as a matter of fact.”

  
Jughead didn’t think his heart could drop any lower.

  
“I think you should reconsider my offer. You walk away quietly and I spare the girl you love from humiliation. It’s not like this fairytale is going to end in your favor anyway.” She gestured back to where Archie and Betty were talking and Jughead turned to see that Archie was embracing Betty in a hug. She was smiling, that same smile that he loved so much, but this time it wasn’t for him. He felt like he was falling as he looked away quickly.

  
“They’re meant to be, Jughead. So just let it go.” Cheryl echoed the words he had said only minutes ago. “It doesn’t even matter anymore.”

  
And suddenly Jughead was moving, grabbing his phone from Cheryl’s hand and walking back up the steps from the beach. His brain flashed back through his day as he moved.

Betty had kissed him on the cheek this morning. _Why didn’t she just kiss me the way she had so many times before? Because she was trying to distance herself._ He made his way into their suite and grabbed his camera bag.

The worried look on Archies face at the breakfast table this morning while he looked at Betty flashed into Jughead's brain. He closed the door to the suite and started down the stairs.

_Why, because your going to tell her you love her? Cheryl taunted._ He walked out the front door and to his car like his life depended on it. His mind and feet were moving at what felt like a million miles per hour.

He heard Fangs voice in the back of his head. _Just take a step back Jug. You can still make it out of this alive._

He opened the car door. _And she doesn’t know how you feel?_ Jason asked Archie. He put his car into reverse.

_I need to tell her before it’s too late._ _It’s not too late for you Archie_ , he thought as he put his foot on the gas. He looked at the mansion in front of him. _But it’s too late for me._ So he drove away and didn’t look back.


	10. Crazy, Stupid, Love.

It had been two weeks since Jughead had seen Betty. He had made every possible effort to avoid her. He hadn’t set foot in the coffee shop and he blocked and deleted her number on his phone to avoid the inevitable waiting and wondering if she would contact him. He didn’t want to put himself through that, so he found a new coffee shop and started a new game of pretending. Pretending the coffee at this new place was half as good as his old spot. Pretending he didn’t mistake every blonde ponytail he saw for her blonde ponytail. Pretending that he didn’t lie awake at night thinking about Betty Cooper and her smile and the way he had felt with her hand in his.

  
Instead of grouching around, he’d thrown himself into Fangs and Kevin’s upcoming nuptials. His friends had been concerned about his sudden return home, but he shrugged them off and told them it just hadn’t worked out, and before long they stopped asking. And even though the concern stayed in their eyes, Jughead just pretended that he couldn’t see that either.

  
So now it was the day of Fangs and Kevin’s wedding. The guest list was miles long and the clock was ticking down at the Parkside bed and breakfast that Kevin and Fangs had rented out.

  
“T-minus 1 hour until wedding vows.” Jughead announced, entering the small room that Fangs was using to get ready. He brushed off the thought that he sounded like Alice and put a smile on for his friend.

Fangs and Kevin had opted to not have a wedding party. After all, they would both just be asking Jughead and Sweet Pea and no one wanted to debate which side of the altar they’d stand on. So Jughead had taken upon himself to plan the reception and volunteered himself and Sweet Pea to sit at the back of the crowd and book it to the reception venue before anyone else could get there. Anything to stay busy, he thought.

  
“You ready for this?” Sweet Pea asked, entering the room behind Jughead.

“So ready. I wish I didn’t have to wait a whole hour to do it.” Fangs was smiling from ear to ear. “But could you do me a favor?”

“Yes.” Jughead responded immediately. He saw his friends exchange a look but he ignored it.

“Could you grab me a water bottle? I’m sweating.”

“On it.” He was already out the door when he heard Sweet Pea following behind him.

“I got it, Pea.”

“Slow down.”

Jughead kept speed walking to where the caterers were set up, ignoring his friend. But when he turned around with the water bottle in his hand, Sweet Pea blocked his way.

“Stop. For one second. Please. I need to talk to you.” 

“Does this have to do with the wedding?”

“No.” Sweet Pea admitted.

Jughead attempted to dodge around him again but Sweet Pea countered and looked him dead in the eye.

“But that doesn’t mean it’s not important.”

“Fine. What?”

Sweet Pea let out a breath.  
“You’ve always been such a stubborn drama queen.”

“THIS is the important thing you need to talk to me right now?”

“Jughead I swear to-“ Sweet Pea balled his hands into fists and let out an exasperated sigh. “Jughead. Listen to me very carefully, because we are never going to have a conversation like this ever again. Two weeks ago, when you were getting ready to go to that stupid wedding you were more excited about something than I’ve seen you in a long time. And you didn’t even know this girl then, you just thought she was cute.”

“Did not.”

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes.

“Bullshit. Then you go to the wedding and first you admit that you like this girl; which again I can’t even remember the last time that happened, and you say you’re going to tell her that you want to stop pretending and be with her, but the next day you’re back here and won’t talk about it except to say that she doesn’t like you and she’s getting back with her ex and you’re fine with it cuz they’re meant to be or some crap.”  

Jughead shrugged. “There’s nothing more to say.”

“I call bullshit. Did this girl SAY she didn’t like you?”

“She didn’t have to.”

“Jughead. I’m going to ask you one more time. Did she she look you in the eye and tell you that she didn’t want to be with you?” 

Jughead let himself think back to two weeks before.  
“No. But she acted like-“

“Then what makes you so goddamn sure that she doesn’t feel exactly the same way as you do? And don’t you owe it to yourself to find out?”

Jughead thought about the last time that he’d seen Betty Cooper. He didn’t want that to be the last time he ever saw her again. But the thought of things going his way still felt impossible.

“I know what you’re thinking. I know how hard it is to trust that things can work out. But damn, imagine if they do. Why are you here moping instead of getting the girl? Who says that you two aren’t the ones who are meant to be?” Sweet Pea paused and a look of horror crossed his face. “Holy shit. I’m that guy. The one in Kevin’s movies who gives the bullshit end of movie pep talk. Cheesiest fucking-“

“You’re right.”

Sweet Pea’s eyes widened and he pointed to his chest.

“I am?”

“You are. I’m gonna go get the girl.” 

As Jughead started running out of the building, he heard Sweet Pea shout from behind him.

“Never tell anyone about this!”

“No promises!” He shouted back and kept running. The parking lot was backed up with all kinds of traffic and Jughead paused, realizing that he’d never get to his car, get out of here and get back in time for the wedding. It was time for a new plan. He glanced at his watch. Oh well. He’d just have to run there. Just like in one of Kevin’s movies. He laughed to himself and ran like his life depended on it.

The coffee shop was crowded for a Sunday afternoon, but Jughead knew she had to be there. She was always there at this time of day. He scanned the room for a blonde ponytail but he couldn’t see anything. This strategy was taking too long, he decided. So he walked right up to the counter and asked.

“Where’s Betty?”

The teenage girl working the cash register looked at him like he was speaking alien.

“Betty?”

“Betty Cooper. She works here.”

The girls face was blank.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

Well obviously, Jughead thought. He looked around for a staff member he actually recognized and noticed the guy working the machines behind her. He was here just as much as Betty was. Jughead shouted out to him.

“Is Betty Cooper here today?”

The guy’s face lit up in recognition and Jughead felt like he was finally getting somewhere.

“Sorry man. Betty doesn’t work here anymore. She quit last week.”

Just like that, Jughead’s smiled dropped.

“What?”

But the guy was already moving on to the next drink and the girl was gesturing for the next person in line to come forward. They didn’t know that Jughead’s world had just shattered to pieces.

Jughead walked in silence back to the bed and breakfast. Betty didn’t work at the coffee shop anymore. If he had put on his big boy pants a week ago, she still would have been there. That was the only place he knew of to find her. He racked his brain for any other information that could help but came up with nothing. As he took his seat at the back of the crowd, Kevin was already at the altar with Fangs and the ceremony was about to start. Sweet Pea nudged him to try to get his attention, but he ignored it and looked straight forward. This wasn’t one of Kevin’s movies after all. Not for Jughead. So he shut out the rest of the world and watched his two friends get married.

As people started to arrive at the reception, Jughead was finishing up putting out the punch bowl and cups. He hadn’t said a word to anyone, but Sweet Pea had picked up on the fact that things hadn’t gone as he’d hoped during his attempted romantic gesture. Jughead had seen Fangs and Kevin walk in out of the corner of his eye and Sweet Pea talking to them- he assumed they now knew what had happened as well. He knew that he needed to get it together and congratulate his friends, and now that he had everything set up for the reception, it was time to put on a happy face and join the crowd. That was easier said than done, so Jughead was meticulously organizing the cups by size and restacking the napkins when Sweet Pea showed up next to him.

“So I know you probably don’t want to do this right now, and I tried to tell them, but you know how they are.”

“What is it Sweet Pea?” 

“That girl that Kevin knows… he’s bringing her over here right now to meet you.”

Jughead groaned. “The last thing I want to do right now is talk to any girl that isn’t Betty Cooper.”

Sweet Pea suddenly looked like a deer in headlights. “Betty Cooper?” He stage whispered. It looked like he was about to say something else but Kevin’s voice interrupted from behind Jughead. Great. Here we go. 

“Jughead. There’s someone that I want you to meet-“

“Kevin, I’m really not up for this right now.” Jughead said over his shoulder, continuing to stack the napkins with laser focus.

“You sure about that?” Another voice asked, and Jughead froze in his tracks. He knew that voice. He spun around and sure enough there she was, standing in front of him a yellow floral dress, looking just as perfect as she had the last time he saw her.

“Betty.”

Sweet Pea was making frantic gestures to Kevin and Fangs and in a matter of seconds everyone was on the same page. 

“Looks like you two already know each other.” Fangs took a step back with a knowing smile.

“We’ll let you talk.” Sweet Pea mumbled and walked away.

Kevin and Fangs followed and Jughead heard Kevin and Fangs whispering. 

“This is going to be the most romantic moment in the world.”

“We literally just got married.”

Jughead hadn’t taken his eyes off of Betty, but something seemed off. Then he realized: she wasn’t smiling. in fact, it looked like she was scowling at him.  
“You’re mad.”

“You left me at my sisters wedding without even saying goodbye. I tried calling you but you blocked my number.”  
So she had been trying to call him. Jughead had been waiting a long time for this conversation. He knew he’d have to explain himself. He’d been holding his feelings inside, but it wasn’t until that moment that he realized there was one feeling he had been giving too much control too this whole time.

“I was scared.”

“Scared of what?”

“That you wouldn’t choose me.” Jughead forced himself to make eye contact.

“What do you mean choose you?” Betty looked genuinely confused.

“Betty, I was starting to really like you. And I thought that maybe you felt the same way, but then Cheryl said she heard you and Veronica talking and you’d said one night together didn’t mean anything. It felt safer to run than to stay when the odds were stacked against me.”

Betty’s eyes widened.  
“First of all, you should know not to trust a word that Cheryl says. Secondly, I was telling Veronica that I really liked you but I didn’t know if one night together meant the same thing to you as it did to me.”

Jughead looked down at his feet.  
“And what about Archie?”

“What about Archie?” Betty raised her eyebrows.

“I heard him saying that he needed to tell you how he felt. Before it was too late. And then you were hugging him.”

Betty let out a sigh.  
“Because he told me that he had been talking with Veronica and they both wanted to take things to the next level in their relationship but were waiting to tell me until after the wedding. Which she had already told me in the dressing room earlier that day.”

Jughead looked back up at her and saw those green eyes sparkling with emotion.  
Betty shook her head. “For the record, Jughead, if I had to choose, there wouldn’t have been any competition. I would have chosen you in a heartbeat.”

They looked at each other in silence for a moment.  
Even though it had been a clear mistake, he had still run away without telling her. And he could see in her eyes that she didn’t know if she could trust him. It was time for him to take a leap of faith and hope that things went his way.

“Betty, ever since I left that wedding, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. I am so sorry I let my fears get the best of me. But I refuse to let that one giant mistake get in the way of being with you now. I want you to know that you can trust me. So.”

He took one step closer to her. “Let’s play. Ask me anything. Anything you want to know. I solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

He saw a slight smile on Betty’s lips, but she pushed it away just as quickly and gave him a stern look.

“Is this normal behavior for you? Going around making girls fall all over you and then running off?”

Jughead took a small step towards her.

“Nope. First time. Because this is the first time I’ve cared about someone so much that it scared me.”

Betty raised her eyebrows.  
“So your feelings for me scare you?”

“They did. But now I’m wearing them like a badge of honor.”

She gave him a small smile and moved a step closer so that they were toe to toe.

“But you won’t run away again?”

“Never.”

“And how do I know that you’re not lying to me?”

Jughead saw her eyes drop to his lips and he let himself say the scariest words of his life.  
“Because I love you.”

He cupped her face in his hand and wrapped his other around her waist. She leaned up to him and he felt the calm rush over him, the feeling of safety he had every time he touched her. He swore that he would never mess this up again. After a moment, Betty pulled back and looked him in the eye.

“I love you too.”

He gently rubbed his thumb on her cheek and had a sudden realization. “I went to the coffee shop before the wedding. I was trying to find you but they said you don’t work there anymore.”

“I don’t.” She smiled. “One of our regulars came into the coffee shop last week, said that she’d bought the place that shares our back alley and was turning it into a flower shop. That she needed an assistant. I’ve been making her coffee for months, this nice older woman, and when I told her that owning a flower shop was my dream, she hired me on the spot.”

Jughead picked her up and spun her around while she squealed. When he set her down, she stayed in his arms, looking up at him with that amazing smile.

“You are living the dream.”

“I am now.” She whispered, leaning her head into his chest.

“Could you do me a favor?” Jughead whispered into her hair.

“What?”

“Could you be my girlfriend? But for real this time.”

Betty looked up at him and there it was. That smile that tied his stomach in knots. “I think I can handle that.”

As they stood there, in the middle of a crowd full of strangers, Jughead leaned down to kiss Betty knowing that someone might be watching, but that wasn’t why he was kissing her. Someone could be staring for all he cared- this kiss wasn’t for them. They had nothing to prove to anyone. This was real. And from here on out, it didn’t matter if anyone else knew it.


End file.
